


Revisiting Lake Laogai

by Patricia_Sage



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Assassination Attempt(s), Badass Katara (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), Brainwashed Sokka, Brainwashing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, F/M, Fire Lord Zuko, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Firebending & Firebenders, Future Fic, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, Katara & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Katara and Aang are married, M/M, Marriage, Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Post-Canon, Protective Katara, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Self-Sacrifice, Swordfighting, Violence, Waterbending & Waterbenders, Zuko and Sokka are engaged, Zuko has long hair, like early 20s, not everyone in the fire nation is happy with zuko, the gaang are adults, zukka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24658003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patricia_Sage/pseuds/Patricia_Sage
Summary: Katara watches, horrified, as Sokka pulls his sword out of his scabbard and points it at his fiancé. Zuko, having clambered to the other side of the large table, looks stunned. His golden eyes dart between the sword and Sokka’s face. Katara knows he doesn’t see anything more than a blank expression; the same one she had seen on Jet’s face over a decade before. “Sokka, what are you doing?” the Fire Lord rasps.Sokka’s voice is robotic and so unlike her brother that it makes Katara want to cry. “You are a disgrace of a Fire Lord. I will claim your life for the Resistance.”
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 39
Kudos: 1113





	1. Chapter 1

Sokka is often late to meals for one reason or another, but this is concerning. Katara and Zuko are scooping up their last bites of curry when he finally arrives to the dining hall. Sokka responds to their inquisitive looks with a quip, “Apologies, Fire Lord,” he bows sarcastically to Zuko before bowing to Katara as well, “Apologies, Mom Lord.”

Katara asks anyway. “Why are you so late? We’re basically done eating.”

“Where’s Aang?” She knows her brother is deflecting, but she decides to let it go. If he doesn’t want to tell them now, he will certainly buckle under Zuko’s pointed looks later.

“Toph needed his help with city planning. She promised to bring him back for breakfast tomorrow.” Katara pushes her bowl away from her and watches her brother approach his fiancé.

Sokka kisses Zuko on his unscarred cheek before sitting down in front of the bowl they’d left for him. The food is probably lukewarm, but he eats it without complaint. Zuko narrows his eyes at him suspiciously but finishes his curry.

There’s a shuffling at the entrance. Katara watches two guards enter the dining hall and take their post on either side of the giant door. Everything in the Fire Nation Royal Palace is intricate and looming. Katara, having grown up in a small village with buildings made of snow, often feels intimidated being in these large, foreboding rooms. She thinks about how Zuko would probably feel claustrophobic in an igloo.

There’s an unspoken rule that they don’t speak of business over these meals. Instead, Zuko happily informs them of a new brood of turtle ducks that hatched this morning. Sokka outlines his latest boomerang prototype. Katara describes how Aang, a very tall and lanky 24-year-old, tried out his old glider and looked like a ridiculous armadillo monkey with his long limbs folded in.

Sokka laughs around his last few spoonfuls. “But he could fly it?”

“Sort of,” Katara admits, “But there was a very undignified crash landing.”

Zuko also chuckles, but his face clouds over in confusion as he looks up. Katara follows his gaze to see the two guards walking across the room to her side of the table. “What are you doing?” Zuko asks them. They don’t respond.

The guards stand on either side of Katara’s chair. An uneasy feeling grips her spine. Before she can react, one of the guards looks at Sokka and says calmly, “The Fire Nation Resistance has invited you to Lake Laogai.”

Sokka’s spoon clatters into his empty bowl and his expression is wiped into an emotionless mask. “I am honoured to accept their invitation.”

“No!” Katara shouts. However, before she can do anything, the guards have each grabbed one of her arms. She’s roughly removed from her chair and dragged back, her arms swiftly tied behind her back. That doesn’t stop her from bending the water from the jug on the table.

The cold press of a sharp knife under her chin makes her hesitate. “If you waterbend, I’ll slit your throat,” the guard growls into her ear, “And then I’ll kill your brother…in fact, I could just make him kill himself.” Trembling with rage and fear, Katara lets water fall into a puddle on the floor. She knows she could incapacitate the two of them so quickly they wouldn’t have time to react…but what if there were more enemies? What would they do to Sokka? Her shoulders slump in anxious defeat. “Good girl,” the guard says.

Katara watches, horrified, as Sokka pulls his sword out of his scabbard and points it at his fiancé. Zuko, having clambered to the other side of the large table, looks stunned. His golden eyes dart between the sword and Sokka’s face. Katara knows he doesn’t see anything more than a blank expression; the same one she had seen on Jet’s face over a decade before. “Sokka, what are you doing?” the Fire Lord rasps.

Sokka’s voice is robotic and so unlike her brother that it makes Katara want to cry. “You are a disgrace of a Fire Lord. I will claim your life for the Resistance.”

Zuko’s face changes then. Shock and hurt is replaced by something jagged and dangerous. He leaps suddenly to the head of the table – no, he’s aiming for the wall behind. Underneath a professional portrait of ‘Team Avatar’ is a wall mount holding the Blue Spirit's dual dao swords. They’ve been purely decorative for many years, but not tonight.

“Watch out!” Katara shouts in warning as Sokka lunges forward in an effort to strike the Fire Lord’s back. Zuko turns and deftly catches Sokka’s sword in the junction between his crossed blades. It has been a long time since he’s been in a fight, but Katara knows Zuko is like her husband and still trains every day. It’s evident in the way he smoothly blocks all of Sokka’s attacks.

However, Zuko isn’t fighting like he did when he was a teenager. Gone is his ferocious lunging, his impossibly swift combinations, his giant walls of fire. Right now, he’s fighting more like Aang - defensive and evasive. There’s not a single lick of flame in sight.

Katara, with an aching heart, realizes that Zuko is holding back so as not to hurt his fiancé. When Sokka slashes, the Fire Lord jumps back but doesn’t counter. Instead, he puts more space between them – space that Sokka eliminates with another barrage of attacks. Katara wonders what Zuko’s plan is, or if he even has one.

The two men are evenly matched. They tear apart tapestries with their blades, knock over chairs, shatter statues. Sokka is also not fighting like he did when he was a teenager. He’s not using elements of his environment to distract or unbalance. Ironically, he’s fighting more like a young Zuko, unyielding and aggressive.

Sokka kicks Zuko directly in his lightning scar, causing the Fire Lord to crash into the wall with a grunt. Zuko rolls just in time to avoid Sokka’s sword as it stabs where his chest used to be. The sword is made of meteorite, and it cuts through the concrete of the wall. It sticks there for a moment, leaving Sokka vulnerable to attack, but Zuko only backs up, chest heaving, and blades raised.

Sokka pulls his sword out of the wall and uses the momentum to fuel a ferocious and unexpected spin. Zuko ducks just in time, but the sword slices through his top-knot. The golden headpiece falls to the ground as Zuko’s hair falls to his shoulders.

Katara feels as if her lungs have been filled with mud. There is no way for them to win this fight. Zuko is unwilling to hurt Sokka. Sokka isn’t going to stop until he kills Zuko. Katara can’t bend or they’ll kill Sokka. …But if she takes out these guards then she and Zuko would have time to restrain Sokka and make a plan. Katara begins to brainstorm how to remove the enemy in a way they couldn’t anticipate.

She doesn’t have a chance to execute her plan.

Sokka advances on Zuko, this time slashing at his legs. Zuko jumps impossibly high and flips onto the dining table. His hair is long and wild, a few strands hanging like a curtain in front of his face. The length of the table is at least three meters, and Zuko runs across the top of it before jumping off and landing in front of the door.

Katara anticipates her chance. When Zuko exits the room, Sokka will follow, and Katara will be free to take out these two guards.

Zuko looks at the heavy metal doors and his shoulders fall. He looks away from his escape route and, to Katara's astonishment, turns to face his fiancé once more. Zuko’s expression has changed. The conflict is gone and replaced by a resolute acceptance.

Katara watches in horror when his dual dao swords clatter to the ground. His arms loose at his sides and his chin raised, Zuko’s gaze is steady as Sokka charges forward.

Sokka has his blade brandished in front of him and he looks like he’s going to simply keep running until he skewers the defenceless Fire Lord through the chest. Katara bends the water from the floor, but she knows she won’t have time to freeze her brother. She and the guards watch as the tip of Sokka’s sword makes contact with Zuko’s chest –

– and then he stops.

Katara would have thought time had halted if not for the rise and fall of Zuko’s breathing, the tip of the sword moving with him, having pierced only fabric. Sokka is not moving. His grip on the hilt is shaking but his body is still. Katara can’t see his face. Zuko’s mouth is slack and his eyes are shining.

“Sokka.” It’s as if Zuko’s whisper cuts the strings holding Sokka upright, and the water tribesman slumps forward, his sword joining the other two on the floor. Zuko catches him, but Sokka is heavier than he is and so they both fall to their knees.

Katara quickly transforms her ball of water into eight ice shards, sending them backwards at high speed. Before the guards can react, they are pinned to the wall behind her. Katara had sent most of the ice through clothing only, except for the one lodged in the one guard’s forearm. His weapon clatters to the ground. She picks up the knife and puts it into her belt for safe keeping. “Good girl,” she sneers before using the remaining water in the room to create a temporary ice prison.

Then she turns to see her brother stirring in his fiancé’s arms. She runs to kneel next to them. The second she’s within reach, she shoves Zuko hard in the shoulder. “That was very stupid!” she hisses. His golden eyes are filled with a volatile combination of fear and relief as they meet hers. Her anger dissipates like steam.

Sokka appears to be waking from a strange sleep. His brow is furrowed as he blinks up at Zuko. “What –” Zuko interrupts by hugging him fiercely, burrowing his face into Sokka’s shoulder. When Katara puts her arms around them both, she feels Zuko shaking slightly.

The aftermath will not be pretty. They will need to investigate this so-called Fire Nation Resistance and dismantle their underground brainwashing. They will need to increase the Fire Lord’s defences. Sokka will need to process what he had been forced to do. Zuko will need to process the decisions he made.

But, for now, the three of them hold each other and thank the spirits they had made it out unharmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a bit of a cliche way to break a brainwashing spell, but it's so damn compelling, isn't it?
> 
> Reviews are much appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, wow, get ready for some angst.

It’s like a nightmare he can only half remember. Memories come to him in fragments throughout the night…Zuko’s eyes as he trapped Sokka’s sword between his blades, Zuko’s hair as he ducked under a deadly swipe, Zuko’s back as he ran on top of the table.

However, one moment stands out in horrifying clarity. He remembers clutching the hilt of his sword, the tip of it pressed over Zuko’s heart, rising and falling with his breath. When he closes his eyes, Zuko’s expression is there, immortalized like a stone statue, his golden gaze resigned and terrified at the same time.

Sokka almost killed his fiancé.

He gets tangled in his blankets and his thoughts. He doesn’t sleep. He knows distantly that it wasn’t his fault – he was brainwashed. But he’s the Plan Guy, analytical in all parts of life, and so he can’t stop thinking about what could have happened. He can’t stop thinking about his sword plunging into Zuko’s chest.

After bolting upright for the fifth time in as many hours, Sokka abandons the idea of sleep. If this is what his half-conscious brain is cursing him with, he doesn’t want to find out what fully-fledged nightmares could take purchase. He slips on a pair of moccasins and quickly ties his hair back into a wolf tail. Sokka and Zuko aren’t to share a bedroom until they’re married, but in consolation it’s a very short walk between their rooms.

The Ambassador stops in front of the door. His chest is flooded with emotions and he’s not sure how they’re going to escape once he’s face-to-face with his fiancé. He feels so guilty, so scared, and so angry.

There’s movement in the corner of his eye and Sokka turns to see his ex-girlfriend, Suki, standing at attention a few feet away from the Fire Lord’s bedroom. Zuko can’t trust his own guards right now, so he called in the Kyoshi Warriors. They came on very short notice, and Sokka is glad to see not only a trustworthy bodyguard but also a friend.

“How are you holding up?” Suki asks, approaching.

Sokka sighs, knowing that she watched him stand in front of this door for an awkward amount of time. “Not, uh, not great.”

“I’m so sorry this happened, Sokka. I don’t know how they managed to –” She runs a hand through her short hair. She changes her approach. “I’m glad everyone’s okay.”

Sokka’s nerves are frayed, he’s exhausted, and honesty reaches a hand down his throat. “I don’t know if everyone _is_ okay…”

Sokka has grown much taller since they were teenagers. She hugs him around the middle, her face in his collarbone and her hair under his chin. Somehow, he still feels like she is enveloping him. When Suki steps back she places a gentle hand on the side of his face. Her eyes are sharp. “My ladies and I are going to track down this Fire Nation Resistance ourselves. They don’t stand a fucking chance, so don’t you worry about that.” She wipes off the smudge of white face paint left on Sokka’s shirt. “You and Zuko need to talk. Don’t shut down and don’t explode. Talk.”

He repeats her words like a mantra in his head as he knocks on the door. _Don’t shut down. Don’t explode._ He feels confident until Zuko opens the door and lets him in.

The Fire Lord looks as stressed and exhausted as Sokka feels. Strands of hair have slipped from his topknot, framing his face. There’s a dark shadow under his unscarred eye. His bare shoulders are hunched. He’s never reacted well to assassination attempts ( _who would?_ ), but this one was the worst. It was personal.

When Sokka’s eyes land on the jagged, blooming scar on his stomach, another hazy memory flashes behind his eyes – his boot impacting that spot and sending Zuko colliding against a wall. The control he felt after his conversation with Suki pools out of the soles of his feet. “Zuko, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m supposed to be the best warrior in my tribe, and I couldn’t fight off a few Fire Nation lunatics? They just snatched me off the street and fucking brainwashed me and told me to kill my fiancé and that’s exactly what I did, no questions asked. Who the fuck –”

“Stop it.” Zuko walks forward and places a hand on Sokka’s arm, but Sokka shrugs him off violently. _Explode it is._

“No, Zuko, what the fuck? I almost killed you. I almost _killed_ you!”

“You didn’t.”

Sokka pins him to the spot with a glare, then advances. He places his brown hands on Zuko’s shoulders and growls out the question that has been haunting him all night. “How did you know it would work?”

“Know what?” Zuko asks, but they are both aware he’s stalling.

“Dropping your guard. Letting me –” Sokka interrupted himself with a shaking breath. “How did you know I wouldn’t hurt you?”

“I –” Zuko glances over Sokka’s left shoulder but not before his fiancé saw the look in his eyes. Sokka pushes him a little, making space between them and stopping whatever abysmal lie is taking shape in Zuko’s mouth.

“You didn’t know.” Sokka’s words are made of ice. This is what he suspected, the reason why he couldn’t sleep. Once again, the image of his sword poised against Zuko’s chest emerges from his mind. He thinks he will be forever haunted by those eyes. “What the fuck, Zuko!”

Until that moment, Zuko was frozen, caught between defending and comforting. Sokka pushing him away seems to break that, and suddenly his lips are curled into a snarl and smoke is rising from his fists. “I had to do something!”

“Like you didn’t have other options? Why didn’t you run?”

“I couldn’t –”

“Yes, you could!”

“No, I _couldn’t_!” A small flame spurts out of Zuko’s mouth and he closes his eyes, taking a moment to breathe. Sokka gives him the space. When his hands are relaxed and no longer smoking, Zuko explains. “If I ran out of that room… There are guards posted everywhere, Sokka. They wouldn’t care that it was you. They would have seen someone chasing after the Fire Lord with a sword and they would have killed you.”

Sokka forces himself to take some deep breaths as well. “But if it hadn’t worked, Zuko… If I hadn’t stopped…” He looks up and takes a few steps forward. Zuko doesn’t move and doesn’t meet his gaze. Sokka whispers what his mind knows is true and what makes his heart shatter. “You would rather be killed by me than be responsible for my death.”

Zuko’s face crumples a bit. His fists aren’t smoking now, they’re shaking. Sokka takes one last step forward and places his hands over Zuko’s. Again, unbidden, he imagines his sword sinking into his fiancé’s chest. He can’t keep the tears out of his voice. “Zuko.”

“I know. I’m selfish. I’m sorry.” Finally, Zuko looks up. His eyes are like the dying embers of a fire. “But you’re so _good_ , Sokka. You’re everything. And if someone had to – … The world could live without me.”

“Stop it.” Sokka’s chest is uncomfortably full and swarming. He feels like he should be shouting but can’t manage more than a whisper. He pulls Zuko into a suffocating embrace. “You’re everything to me, Zuko.”

“I’m sorry,” Zuko repeats into Sokka’s collarbone. They stand there, attuned to each other’s breathing. It’s a long time before they feel stable enough to move. They collapse onto Zuko’s bed and close any space between them.

Zuko is soft and warm and _alive_ in Sokka’s embrace. His breath caresses the side of Sokka’s neck. “I love you.” Sokka releases the words into the quiet of the room. “I love you and we’re both okay.”

Zuko repeats, “We’re both okay.”

“And we’re getting married, soon.”

“Yeah.”

“And we’re both going to live until we’re two hundred years old, like Avatar Kyoshi.”

Zuko chuckles a little. “That’s a long time.”

Sokka places a gentle kiss on the scar. “I can’t wait.”

The Kyoshi Warriors find the Fire Nation Resistance and disband it. The brainwashing device is destroyed, set alight by the Fire Lord himself. Six months later, Sokka and Zuko get married. They are happy, so very happy. But some nights the suffocating darkness brings them back. Zuko knows that, if the situation repeated itself, he would make the same decision. Sokka knows that, too, and it makes him angry in an desperate way. But sometimes he thinks about if their roles were reversed.

And he understands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? I appreciate any and all feedback!


End file.
